Refrigerator



A. NOWAK.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28,1920.

Patented Nov. 8, 1921.

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A. NOWAK.

REFRIGERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28, I920.

1,396,457, Patented Nov. 8, 1921.

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ALEXANDER NOWAK, OF DOUGLAS, ARIZONA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF '10 J. G. PIM'PELL, OF DOUGLAS, ARIZONA.

REFRIGERATOR Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 8, 1921.

Application filed July 28, 1920. Serial No. 899,571.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER NOWAK, a citizen of the United States, residin at Douglas, in the county of Cochise and tate of Arizona, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to receptacles for storing food and has for its object the provision of means whereby food may be kept fresh without the use of ice, the device being intended particularly for use in hot dry climates where ice is diflicult to obtain.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be hereinafter fully described, the novel features being subsequently particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator or food storage receptacle embodying my invention, the top being omitted;

Fig. 2 a longitudinal section on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

The apparatus of my invention may be constructed of any suitable material and will preferably be formed of concrete. In carrying out the invention, I form a bottom 1 which will be a single slab of concrete provided on its under side with feet 2 whereby it may be supported out of contact with the floor of the room in which it is to be located. This slab is provided at its edges on its upper side with lugs or enlargements 3 which have their upper surfaces in the same horizontal plane and constitute supports for the side walls, openings 4 being formed vertically therethrough for the reception of securing bolts or rods. The slab may be cast in any convenient type of mold and upon its upper face at one side edge is provided with a ledge 5 forming a sill to cooperate with a door 6. The upper surface of the bottom slab 1 is dished, as shown at 7, so that water will drain toward the center thereof and escape through an outlet opening 8 in which may be fitted the end of a discharge pipe 9 to carry the water to any point of discharge. Preferably, as shown in Fig. 2, this pipe or hose will be bent so as to provide a goose neck trap and thereby form a water seal for the outlet to prevent obnoxious odors cated at 13, are inserted through the several walls to firmly secure them together. The thickness of the walls is greater than the thickness of the ledge 14 on the upper side of the bottom slab and vertical openings 15 are formed in the walls, as shown, the lower ends of the openings being at the inner sides of the ledgps 14, as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 3. ater trickling down through the passages 15 will be thereby directed over the bottom slab 1 to the outlet 8 therein. The front wall 16 is without vertical passages therethrough, the upper portion thereof being solid, while the lower portion is open to accommodate the door 6 and in the edges of the door opening I secure a packing strip 17 which will coact with the edges of the door to form an air-tight joint and thereby seal the food compartment so that the outside air will not have direct access thereto.

Upon the inner side of the front wall 16, I provide a shoulder or rib 18 which supports one side of the ice tray 19, the said tray being provided on its other side edges with lips 20 which are fitted in openings 21 in the walls of the receptacle so that the water from melting ice or from a water container placed on the tray will be directed into the passages 15 and permitted to drip down through said passages onto the bottom slab 1. The rib 18 is provided with an opening 22 therethrough so that the foul air from the food receptacle may rise to the top 28 of the refrigerator and escape through a vent 24 therein. The top 23 is also a concrete slab cast in a proper mold and provided at its edges with depending flanges 25 adapted to fit around the outer surfaces of the walls 10, 11 and 16 and thereby hold the top in proper position. To prevent an accumulation of dampness within the passages 15 and to provide for a circulation of air therethrough vent openings 26 are formed in the Walls 10 and 11 near the upper ends thereof to communicate with the said passages.

When a supply of ice is obtainable, the

.ice is placed upon the tray 19 and the top of the refrigerator fastened down. It will be noted that the tray 19 dips from its center toward its side edges so that the water from the melting ice will be directed in all directions to the passages 15 and W111 trickle down through said passa es onto the bottom 1 and eventually escape t rough the outlet 8. At its front edge, the tray 19 is provlded with an upstanding lip 27 so that the Water cannot pass through the opening 22. 'When a supply of ice is not obtainable, a water contamer 28 filled with wateI\iTs placed upon the tray 19, as indicated in Fig. 1, and'this container may be of any preferred form, but is referably provided with a minute openlng in its bottom through which the water may very-slowly escape and it may be also provided with minute escape openlngs, indicated at 29, in its side wallto saturate a covering 30 of felt or similar material wrapped around the receptacle, as shown in Fig. 1.- The water will escape very slowly through the absorbent covering and will through the passages 15 to the bottom slab 1 of the receptacle and inasmuch as the passages 15 are not dead-air spaces evaporation will occur with an attendant escape of heatdrip through, walls erected on said bottom and provided with open-ended passages extending vertically therethrough, one of said walls having a shoulder upon its inner side near its upper end and the remaining walls having openings in the plane of said shoulder communicating with the passages through the walls, and a tray resting at one side upon the said shoulder and provided at its other sides with lips engaging in the openings through the walls.

2. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a bottom having a dished upper surface and provided with an outlet at the lowest point of said surface, walls erected on said bottom and provided with open-ended vertical passages therethrough having their lower ends arran ed to discharge onto the dished surface of the bottom, one of the walls having a shoulder on its inner side provided with a vertical opening therethrough and the remaining walls having openings in the plane of said shoulder communicating with the vertical passages through the walls, and a tray havingits upper surface inclined downwardly from lts center toward its edges and having one edge resting on the said shoulder and provided with an upturned lip and having its other edges provided with downturned lips engaging in the openings through the walls.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ALEXANDER NOWAK. 1 8.] 

